Reddit -- a social news site operated by Condé Nast parent Advance Publications -- has finally pulled the plug on an embattled category dubbed "r/jailbait". In an interview with the Daily Dot, Reddit staffer Max Goodman confirms, "The section has been shut down."

A message on the board reads, "This subreddit has been shut down due to threatening the structural integrity of the greater reddit community."

So what was r/jailbait and why was it shut down?

Well as the name suggests it was a section was essentially a monument to some users' ephobophilia -- expressing a sexual preference for teenagers. The site primarily dealt in individuals 14 and older -- past the typical age of biological puberty -- but had strict rules, given that posting sexual images of anyone under 18 is a cybercrime in the United States. Thus Reddit required its users, who enthusiastically combed public profiles on sites like Facebook for "hot" teens, to only post pictures of clothed individuals.

The shutdown came when a user post a picture of a 14 year old female that they claimed was their ex-girlfriend. They mentioned that they had nude pictures of her. After receiving over 70 request for these pictures, the user posted censored image of the 14 year old nude.

According to Matthew Sharkey, a Reddit user who was monitoring the thread at the time, the picture was of a child's face with blond hair. The top and bottom of the image was censored with images of the Power Puff Girls, but Sharkey says that, based on unobscured parts of the image and comments made by TheContortionist, the girl in the picture was engaged in oral sex. (Sharkey notified the FBI about the thread soon after.)

The shutdown irritated many reddit fans, who had expressed enthusiasm about the site's past defense of r/jailbait as "free speech". Many irrate fans cried "PC bullshit excuses" in posts and laid the blame on Anderson Cooper who recently aired an investigative report on the board. They claim that Mr. Cooper and reddit's staff are censoring their freedom.

However, these individuals are more than a bit confused. The Anderson Cooper report actually appeared to boost r/jailbait giving it 30,000 more visitors, 4 million new page views, and more than 1,000 new subscribers to reddit. And it was reddit itself that made the decision to pull the plug after its users started violating the board's rules.

The board had already shut down once August when a battle between two moderators broke out. So the shutdown shouldn't exactly come as a surprise to redditors

Ultimately, for better or worst r/jailbait appears to be gone from the online world and ephebophiles-cum-pedobears will have to wander over to 4Chan or other user-generated content communities to engage in their beloved past-time -- finding images of teenagers.

These users should bear in mind that Reddit is a business and flirts with the mainstream, despite capturing a bit of the 4Chan-like vibe. And like any business that's looking to appeal average American adults, the last thing it wants to look like is that it's supporting child pornography.

Reddit restricts users free speech in a variety of ways (as part of the site's "reddiquette") -- including banning posts in all caps and banning correcting users on their grammar (or more aptly, lack therof).

1. I think this subreddit was/is disgusting. You have to "confirm" that you are over 18 to come look at "clothed" underage girls. That is sickening.

2. The internet isn't only in America and America has by far some of the strictest "child porn" laws in the world. In a lot of countries 14 (or even younger) is the legal age, not 17 or 18. I'm not saying this to condone the disgust of this subreddit merely to point out another reason as to why this subreddit stayed alive for so long.

3. The jailbait section in and of itself did not violate any American laws. Child pornography laws are not vague and posting pictures of clothed teenagers is not illegal. It still doesn't make the section disgusting and deplorable.

4. The section invited the sort of behavior that eventually led the moderators to remove the section. Playing with fire is an understatement. The comments on that thread have been re-posted on reddit (just the comments) and it is pretty sickening to see so many people request, literally requesting, child pornography. The original poster eventually obliged with a "censored" image. I have not seen the image in question but as the article mentions it seems the girl was doing a "sexual act" which is CLEARLY child pornography.

I don't think the removal of this subreddit violates my rights any more than arresting me for screaming fire in a crowded theater violates my rights. It's disgusting that this existed, disgusting that so many people participates, and disgusting that so many people are defending it after it was shut down. Disgusting disgusting disgusting.

quote: 1. I think this subreddit was/is disgusting. You have to "confirm" that you are over 18 to come look at "clothed" underage girls. That is sickening.

Yeah 16 year olds looking at "clothed" 16 year olds... sickening! Of course I'm joking here, but it is twisted for a 40 y/o working it to a 16 y/o's pictures, but I am not really disturbed at all if a 16 y/o does the same. They should've had to confirm that you were under 18 instead lol.

You know what else is sick? Young kids, 16 years old, looking at half clothed 40 year olds like Jennifer Anniston. That should be made illegal. There are also perverts out there who are in their thirties looking at fifty and sixty year olds. That's perverse. Some of those women are actually having sex with young men. Oh, the humanity. People should only be allowed looking at their own age group: +/- 5 years ought to be Ok, with exceptions made for the younger crowd where it ought to be more like 6 months.